Park Square Financial Group LLC Buys New Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 758 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,980,629,000 after acquiring an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of CAT stock traded up $2.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $351.73. 2,290,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,632,152. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $165.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $318.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $351.77.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.